Will you be able to see the “Time Bomb Issues” on your radar screen before they hit your organization? Are you sure?

The time to be diligent in monitoring the radar is well before missiles are about to land. Indeed, scanning the radar should start EARLY when issues are forming. Why? Because there is always is a point of incipience for those issues that can hit an organization with a lethal blow or quickly devolve into a full-scale crisis.

In my experience as an Issues and Crisis Manager over nearly 30 years, these Time Bomb Issues rarely show up without warning on Google, Yahoo, Twitter, and YouTube. They usually evolve through a subtle and incremental process driven by opinion leaders. Often, hot issues are fueled by the special interest groups that pose a permanent and pervasive threat to every organization on the planet–in the marketplace, churches, non-profits…there is no escape.

Issues often begin online as stray–if not obscure–thoughts and views. Some will die out as an undeveloped stray while others will quickly pick up traction when the search engine power plant stokes the fire. If you’re a leader, that means you must turn on our radar well before incoming missiles show on the screen.

The end goal is simple–open up your organization early to new and constant input about what’s happening in its operating ecosystem. Crisis Guru–and he’s a REAL guru–James Lukaszewski http://goo.gl/Z8zcKG offers some great tactics to use in launching a RadarScan Strategy.

Most communicators expect their “target” to, literally or figuratively, listen to the message, TILT THEIR HEAD to one side, and then say, “You’re right!”

All of us are guilty of this approach.

People around the world are talking louder and louder in an escalating fight to “win the day” with their idea or story or pitch. But that kind of winning is elusive because it’s an illusion.

I call it the “HEAD TILT” myth.

Increasingly, communication rarely works that way. In fact, I can’t remember it ever happening on a big issue in my 25-year career as a CEO leader and strategist.

WHY DO WE KEEP TRYING?

It doesn’t take much digging to see at least a partial answer. We don’t want to believe that responses to persuasive communication are ALWAYS plural and receivers fight off going immediately from point A to point B.

SO WHAT CAN WE DO?

If communication messages and programs are developed with the “head tilt myth” top of mind, strategic and focused plans can be executed against more realistic persuasion goals.

This dynamic is firmly rooted in reality—whether we embrace it or not. That leaves communicators with two choices: 1) Abort the communication because persuasion is unlikely; or 2) Toss out a compelling—but reasonable–message to at least keep minds open if not mitigate active opposition.

Welcome to a world that is under attack from an information hurricane, but run by context and connection.

That’s only the beginning.

Increasingly, successful communications will need to transcend context and connection and community. They will require consensus and compromise, too.

I nominate this architectural blunder in Spain to become the metaphor for our society’s dangerous fascination with approaching life at warp speed.

Painfully ironic that the building is named InTempo, as if to infer rhythm and control. Amazing. Speed kills…but we keep turning it up. That’s why I counsel clients against “sprinting.” It’s too easy to miss something in the hustle. Sprinting is not a strategy. It’s a tactic. And it’s dangerous. Unless you’re ok taking the stairs.

I’m living my “second half” right now and have committed to make it purpose driven after 25 years as a CEO in the marketplace and then a wonderful four-year stint working in senior leadership for Rick Warren at Saddleback Church.

For much of my life I’ve heard people talk about the importance of having “high character.” But I’ve always rejected that notion because character, to me, is a multi-dimensional dynamic that you either have or don’t have. It’s either exhibited in your actions, or not. And it takes more than just memorizing chatter from the latest socio-cultural pop tumbling down the slope of relativism.

Indeed, strong character must be “in play” continually to impact the people in our ecosystem. Strong character must be manifest outwardly…and often.

That leaves me convinced that our character can’t be “high” while we live life choosing impressing over impacting.

If character can’t be high (and we certainly don’t want it to be low) then character must be DEEP.

It’s official…we don’t need any more evidence that the “career path” and “promotion ladder” are gone. Lifetime employment gone. The merit raise gone. Command and control power gone.

You would have to be naïve or sequestered in a dungeon to miss the winds of change buffeting our career tent. Left in the wake of that storm is a new responsibility–lifetime career self-management and continuous learning. That’s the only value we can sustain over time and through the tumult of what I call the “ChangeAge.”

The entire world is grappling with the same monster. Everyone is vulnerable, and sadly many are losing. But we shouldn’t mourn the loss of the hierarchical era and the “traditional” career. Instead, we should celebrate the dawning of a new opportunity to paint new pictures on a new canvas.

Confused? Afraid? Hang in, and ponder what Italian poet Niccolo Machiavelli wrote in the 16th Century: “It must be considered that there is nothing more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things.”

Of course these lines are false. But they shockingly demonstrate why Biblical Illiteracy in the American church has reached epidemic levels.

Those crazy thoughts are just three of the findings from data released by the Barna Research Group. Below are a few of the highlights:

At least 12 percent of adults believed that Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife.

Over 50% of graduating high school seniors said Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife.

A considerable number of respondents thought Billy Graham preached the Sermon on the Mount.

Fewer than half of all adults could name the four gospels.

Many Christians can’t identify more than two or three of the disciples.

Epidemic, indeed.

THE YELLOW CHAIR

The American church’s yellow chair in this case is thinking a linear strategy can reverse the disconcerting trend. The thinking behind that approach says “step it up…we must get people to read their Bible!” Of course getting people to read their Bible IS the goal. But thinking people can be persuaded through a direct, “do this” campaign is crazy…and a yellow chair.

THE ALTERNATIVE?

Toss out the yellow chair in order to direct full and immediate attention to the beliefs and attitudes that drive BEHAVIOR (in this case reading or not reading the Bible).

That means the church must first address the life context of those targeted for change and build an “Application Bridge” to the Bible. If they’re successful doing that, there’s a chance to reach the ultimate goal of Bible literacy.

The application bridge is built by showing the target in their very own context WHY the Bible is important for them. THEN, the focus can turn to programs intended to move people into actually reading the scriptures.

Every organization’s “TODAY” is being pummeled by issues and forces—positive and negative; big and small; deadly and innocent. If unchecked, they can–individually and collectively–strangle the organization. They must be ignored, defused, or redirected so they don’t choke out the organization’s life and prevent it from arriving alive at its “TOMORROW.”

The only way to avoid being strangled by TODAY is to paint a picture of an idealized TOMORROW and decide what MUST BE DONE—the IMPERATIVES–to start moving toward that end-state destination.

Most strategic planning programs are complicated, lengthy, and full of detail. Knowing so much work is headed their way, the planning participants in this scenario freeze and eventually shut down. The yellow chairs are never identified. Strategic Imperatives never developed. Transformation never achieved.

Barely audible, those words drifted out of my mouth in a whisper while I was driving to a meeting with my board of directors in the early 1990s. As President and CEO of the organization, I was working furiously to manage our business and loving God was the last thing on my mind that morning. Indeed, I couldn’t figure out why in the world I was saying “LOVE GOD, FEAR NOTHING” when currents of stress were coursing through my soul.

Even though I had become a Christian while attending college in the late 1970s, I wasn’t praying (I didn’t know how), so I know those words weren’t prompted by prayer. I hadn’t just come from a Bible study, so I know that didn’t produce my four-word epiphany. I know I didn’t get those words from a Christian book because I didn’t have any to read. I also know I didn’t get them from church because I didn’t pay attention when I attended.

So, why did LOVE GOD FEAR NOTHING appear as I joined the throng of automatons on the 405 freeway in Southern California?

I now know that those four words came–from a God I didn’t know–to give my life meaning and purpose. Those words were a trigger from God who grabbed me as I was careening down the world’s “success pathway.”

I made it through the board meeting and, no, I didn’t have any spiritual experiences that night. I didn’t even pray. Nope. I didn’t do anything different, even though I knew something was different.

OK…I’ll now rewind the story back to the late 1970s.

I roared out of college in 1978 and attacked my business career with a vengeance. Having played football through college and ice hockey from age 4 to 14, I took that competitiveness into my adult life and it wasn’t long before I was hitting success at every turn. At age 35 in 1990, I became President and CEO of a business with $1 Billion invested and $300 million in annual sales. I said, “I made it!” God said, “Welcome to the world’s stress chamber.”

I found time to attend church through these years in the 1980s and early 1990s, but that was the extent of my commitment to God. During this period of my life, I thought being a Christian meant you were nice to people and prayed if someone was in the hospital. I didn’t have any spiritual discernment. I didn’t have any Godly wisdom. And I definitely didn’t have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I was an activity management machine with a wonderful “system” for my life, but I hadn’t thought for even one minute about the consequences of my quest. I was so uptight that I couldn’t relax or think about anything not connected to my success goals. People would talk about going to the zoo or a parade and I’d think they had gone mad.

I even made church part of my activity management game by taking Saddleback’s Membership Class (101) in 1992. Then, as incredible as it sounds given my state of mind and heart at that time, the very next month I attended the Spiritual Maturity Class 201. My goal, however misguided when viewed today through the clarity of 20/20 hindsight, was to “endure the four hours and then come out the other end spiritually mature.” J

Thankfully, God had other ideas and used Class 201 to dismantle the myths that had formed my flawed view of Christianity. God showed me that day how Spiritual Maturity was a life-long journey and not a short-term destination. It was actually reassuring to learn that you can’t snap your fingers and “be” spiritually mature.

What happened after that day in Pastor Tom Holladay’s Spiritual Maturity Class 201?

In spite of my angst, I made a decision to subordinate doubt and turn everything over to God. I made a strong commitment to start the habits of a disciple taught in Class 201—God’s Word; Prayer; Tithing; and Fellowship—and was blessed immediately. I started to volunteer at the very next class and eventually became one of the 201 teachers for over 15 years. My heart began to change. There were dramatic improvements in every aspect of my life. My circumstances began to change. My life began to change. From the mid 1990s to early 2000s, I was blessed beyond comprehension–as a husband, father, lay pastor, and CEO.

Looking back, it’s clear that I had seen the sun, but never seen it shine. I had met thousands of people speaking around the world, but never touched anyone in a meaningful way for God. I was a wildly successful CEO who “knew about God” without ever feeling His peace in my heart. But all of that changed when I fully yielded my life to Jesus Christ in 1992.

I retired from the marketplace as a CEO in 2008 at age 52 to devote the second half of my life to Christ’s Kingdom. That change was made possible when God brought me into His inner Sanctuary 20 years ago with those four little words–LOVE GOD FEAR NOTHING—uttered on a sun-soaked morning while driving down a busy freeway in Orange County, California.

That could become an increasingly familiar refrain if you believe the latest research making a scientific connection between head trauma in the National Football League and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

In early 2013, brain scans performed on five former NFL players revealed images of the protein that causes football-related brain damage — the first time researchers have identified signs of the crippling disease in living players.

THE FIRST YELLOW CHAIR Until recently the NFL had actually denied the link between football and CTE. That was the first yellow chair NFL executives decorated around in its dangerous dance with denial. Only when it could no longer fight the findings with a straight face did the NFL reverse its position and acknowledge the correlation between football collisions and long-term brain damage.

Removing that yellow chair was imperative and appropriate action for the NFL’s future. It was backed up with a comprehensive new platform called NFLevolution, a multi-million dollar commitment to make changes in the rules, equipment and treatment for brain injury to prevent long-term disability from CTE.

Fantastic…but all of that is in the future. There’s still a yellow chair in the NFL’s room–the past.

THE SECOND YELLOW CHAIR This month the NFL faced off in court against thousands of retired players who are accusing the league of hiding information about the dangers of head trauma.

The NFL is arguing that claims from the past occurred under Collective Bargaining Agreements between the league and its players in place at the time.

THE ALTERNATIVE? The NFL should remove the second yellow chair—the past—NOW with annual revenue approaching $10 Billion and the league knowing where the issue will end up. Why gamble against an uncertain future when the issue has a potential, down the road, to actually close down the league under the weight of unpayable liability compounding for decades?

“Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep the postman and his pony from completing their appointed round and deliver the mail.”

United States Pony Express 1860

Well…at least figuratively they did indeed shoot those horses, and it’s about to happen again.

Today’s digital revolution, UPS and FedX are set to crush the U.S. Postal Service and send it to a grave next to those dedicated ponies of a by-gone era.

Despite delivering nearly 170 Billion pieces of mail to Americans in 2013, the postal service will record its largest one-year deficit ever–$9 Billion dollars. It loses nearly $25 Million a day and will default this summer on a $5.5 billion payment due to Uncle Sam.

THE YELLOW CHAIR

It seems clear that the Postal Service and its iconic post office are going to die. So what’s the yellow chair?

The yellow chair for our Postal Service is thinking the behemoth can rearrange the furniture around its yellow chairs and “tighten the belt” to stave off extinction. Not a chance. Consider all that red ink swirling around the Postal Service and you’ll no doubt conclude that even a complete transformation of the current department will not prevent the inevitable death sentence down the road.

THE ALTERNATIVE?

Toss the yellow chair and resist the urge to redecorate the same room…and do it NOW when you know the ending. Americans will have to shell out $10 Billion each year change is put off.

Doing it now should start with an idealized picture of a new room based on the future economic context and competitive position of the government’s role—if any—in the movement of “hard” mail.

Recent Posts

ABOUT

YellowChair Strategy fits your needs. From a simple, cultural refinish to a complete rebuild of your organization’s strategic platform. It works for small businesses, Corporations, Churches, and Non-profits.